Christmas Letter

Reflecting on 2011


January: Kendra's last semester in pre-school; Mark and Kendra sang at church


February: 9 year anniversary, Yeah!

March: Kristi attended 3 baby showers for sisters in our ward; and she discovered a kidney stone; we built a grow-box, but the garden was a total failure :-(


April: Pics with the Easter bunny; Kristi's Easter feast with our neighbors


May: Disneyland; Mark's birthday


June: Kendra turned 5; Megan turned 2; Mark flew to CA for a buddy's wedding; Kristi went backpacking with the MiaMaids from church; Mark goes camping with Kendra (not over-night)


July: Mark's family reunion, Kristi's family reunion (same trip!)


August: Galloping Grace (free horse riding) for the girls; Kendra began Kindergarten (we love her teacher, Mrs. Clink!)


September: Megan began attending a music class; Mark had a great idea of having bees in our backyard...until he was stung


October: School carnival; Halloween


November: Kristi's birthday; Thanksgiving with Mark's parents in St. George, UT


December: Christmas with Kristi's parents in Oregon

We have so much to be thankful for. It's nice to reflect on the year and remember the experiences. It's especially nice to reflect on the times with friends from this and years past. We are thankful for our family, both immediate and extended. We are especially grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jingle Bells

Megan loves to sing Christmas songs. My favorite is when she does this in the store.

Gingerbread Houses

Mark's family has a tradition of doing graham cracker houses at Christmas time. We invited our neighbors over to do it with us.

She made a train.

This is our neighbor's little boy - he's two.

Megan's squish face and the house she made.


Our neighbor made a manger.

Mark's castle.

Kendra's house.

Mine looks so awesome!

Letter To Santa

I saw a blog where a mom did a "letter to santa" party for her girls. I wanted to do one too! But I did it for my girls and the neighbors. First they wrote a letter to santa, and then they decorated gingerbread cookies and drank hot cocoa.

Megan had a hayday with the candy - I eventually moved it from her grasp.

Table setting - thankyou to all those creative bloggers!

Snow Day

When it snows in Albuquerque it usually melts within a few hours. For that reason we take advantage of it while we can!

This is a ton of snow for us to get - especially in early December. Kendra's school was cancelled so we had loads of fun.